I wanted to share this very thoughtful and beautiful multimedia portrait of WE Farm created by IU Journalism student, LeeThomas. She spent a good deal of time gathering photos, soundbites, and an understanding of what WE Farm is all about. It features our animals, our interns, and friends helping along the way. Enjoy. (Click Here to View).
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Posted November 21st, 2011 by Dan’s Plan |
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Turkey and chicks courtesy of photofarmer via flickr
It’s the week of Thanksgiving and I have turkey on the brain. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays where we stay home and host an open-door, all-day gathering of friends and family. We are expecting to have 18 people for dinner thus far and I will be smoking out two turkeys and two ducks.
For the past several years that we’ve lived in Indiana, I have always bought my turkeys through a local co-op grocery store and from a local farm. Some years I’ve bought heritage breed birds and other years just local, free-ranging birds. Nonetheless, I seem to always have to remind myself why I pay 3-4 times more for these birds as compared to the ones that I see on sale at the local supermarket. Coincidentally, there was a story in our local Sunday paper this weekend that very clearly reminded me why we support our local farmers.
Last week, Sparboe Farms received a Warning Letter from FDA. Sparboe Farms is reported to produce approximately 300 million eggs per year and is a major supplier of eggs to McDonalds, Target, and Walmart (until a few weeks ago). In addition to the Warning Letter, a group called Mercy for Animals released an undercover video showing a number of scenes of animal cruelty occurring within Sparboe’s factory farms (warning: if you’re not used to seeing the beaks of baby chicks being burned off, you might find the video at the link above a bit graphic). The response from Sparboe can be found here and states, “These images depict activity completely at odds with our animal welfare policies and do not represent our company or the high standards that have always been a hallmark of our operations.” We beg to differ.
First, there are at least three general problems with Sparboe’s practices. I am willing to bet that you care about at least one of these issues.
1. Animal welfare. The undercover video and media reports highlight the abuses that occur in factory farms like Sparboe’s. Disgusting and crowded living conditions, inhumane practices, and lack of respect for another animal’s welfare characterize these situations.
2. Food safety. The FDA Warning Letter cites Sparboe for several serious violations of the prevention of Salmonella in its facilities. The letter also mentions several instances of “unacceptable rodent activity within a poultry house” and failure to achieve satisfactory rodent control. Ditto for flies.
3. Environmental stewardship. In addition to the mentions of the presence of salmonella in Sparboe poultry houses in Minnesota and the possible cross-contamination of facilities, factory farms such as these produce tremendous amounts of waste that must be composted, detoxified, or shipped elsewhere.
So, when Sparboe states that these images are at odds with their animal welfare policies, we are calling shenanigans. For example, point #4 on Sparboe’s Animal Code of Conduct states that their hens should have the “freedom to express normal behavior,” which is completely at odds with the methods and procedures of factory farming. Perhaps the folks at Sparboe are not very familiar with “normal” chicken behavior outside of the factory farm. For illustrative purposes, let’s contrast Sparboe’s practices with another model of farming.
There is a farm about 20 miles away from us called The Wayne-Egenolf Farm (WE Farm). WE Farm practices a pasture-based, closed-loop style of raising animals. This means that there are very few inputs and waste products associated with raising these birds (and other animals) because the birds follow the farm’s cows and eat grubs and parasites from the cow manure (check out the link above for more detail). The benefits of this method of raising birds are at least three-fold: the birds require less feed because they are feeding naturally off of the land; the birds sanitize the pasture and distribute the manure, thereby converting a potential waste product into useful fertilizer for the pasture; and out on the pasture the birds are actually engaging in normal bird behavior.
Factory farming makes difficult, and in some cases is simply incompatible with, the promotion of animal welfare, safe food, and environmentally sustainable practices (not to mention delicious food). As a result, we buy our meat from WE Farm and we pay more for our Thanksgiving Day birds because we care about these issues. After all, what better time is there to make a decision that expresses gratitude and honors the life of the animal on your table than on Thanksgiving Day?
We’re extending the sign-up period until Friday, October 15th as we still have a handful of shares available. Learn more about our grass-fed beef and pastured-pork shares and reserve your shares using our online sign-up form.
Thanks again for the opportunity to put WE Farm meat on your table!
It’s that time folks! Open enrollment begins today for all new CSA members. We will stop taking CSA share reservations on October 10th, or when all share options are full, whichever comes first.
Check out our grass-fed beef and/or pastured pork share options and use the online sign-up form to complete your reservation.
This is a big week for us as we take reservations for our Fall Meat CSA Program.
Deadline for Previous CSA Members: Wednesday, October 5th
Release to New CSA Members: Thursday, October 6th
Final Deadline for All Reservations: October 10th
Shares are beginning to fill up so take a look at what we are offering and consider getting WE Farm grass-fed beef or pastured pork for you or your family today!
Your Farmers,
–Josh Egenolf and Laura Beth Wayne
Hey all, I made a little mistake pricing out the “Total Beef and Pork Combo” shares. There was an accounting error on my part and it’s good news for you.
We are offering these shares at $198, instead of the listed $293 (a big difference I know!).
Visit our share page and think about the possibilities. Previous member enrollment ends on Wednesday, October 5th. After that, first-takers can become a new WE Farm CSA member! Sign-up using our online form starting Thursday, October 6th. Shares are filling up so don’t wait to long. Thanks for the chance to be you farmers.
Fall 2011 WE Farm Tour
Hallelujah! Despite looming rain, the WE Farm Tour was a unbelievable testament to the power of our family, friends, and community to be the living bones of its own local food project. LB and I cannot express our gratitude for having the wholehearted backing of so many wonderful people. With our noses to the grindstone, working weeks or even months without rest or compensation for our efforts, we find our cups overflowing with gratitude and a sense of purpose when receiving thanks from all of you who take the time to participate in supporting us. WE Farm is “your farm” and we couldn’t do it without you! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
More than 30 kids, parents, friends, CSA members, and new faces joined us to tour WE Farm at Blu Moon Farm on Saturday. Rain threatening, we walked the recently soaked pastures to share just what makes WE Farm tick.
Our Pastured Pregnant Sows and Nursery at WE Farm
We introduced and honored our hardest workers here; the hogs, cattle, and chickens which toil tirelessly to fertilize, till, and stimulate productivity; those animals which we reverently harvest so that we and our land might be sustained. We explained our chemical- and drug-free management philosophies, our desires to understand each animal group’s behavior so that we might turn the impact they make into an opportunity to solve rather than create problems, and the importance of collaborating with our family, our fantastic landlord, our neighbors, and other farmers to partner on virtually every aspect of WE Farm. Such cooperation takes us beyond “sharing pieces of the pie” by creating entirely new “pies.” Working together is a creative endeavor!
Berkshire Mom and Piglets at WE Farm
The piglet nursery is finished and is a beautiful and functional structure on our property. We have been blessed with new life as 3 of our sows have birthed 16 adorable little piglets. Kids and grown-ups alike enjoyed seeing the newest members of our animal farmily. Our other 3 sows are literally days from providing once more. We’ll keep you posted on their deliveries. We check them every few hours as they stay out in the field until show time.
Curious Calves at WE Farm
We wrapped up the guided tour with a visit to our grass-fed calf herd atop the ridge in our main pasture. Cattle, being naturally curious animals, provided a good show and were intent on our conversation. We had the chance to share how we move them daily to a fresh sward of grass, all the fencing and water infrastructure which makes their movement possible, and we even had some of the kids on the tour find some earthworms living beneath our feet that play such a vital role in cycling fertility and keeping the soil alive and healthy.
An Extraordinary Partnership
We wrapped up the tour at 1 p.m. with some very important and deserved introductions. Lisa, our dear friend and landlord, shared with us her relationship to this piece of land and our seemingly clandestine finding of one another. She (and we) feel the coming together of our lives is so extraordinary that she felt it only right to dub her farm “Blu Moon Farm” as opportunities to marry mutual dreams such as those we all share only reveal themselves “once in a blue moon.” She adopted “Blu” to pay homage to her beloved hound dog, Blu. We both give selflessly and graciously in order to build a common dream for this farm. We also had the extreme pleasure of introducing our intern, Elisia, from Bloomington. She is one of 3 passionate, hard-working, and intelligent students from IU coming out to provide the horsepower needed to keep ahead of the floodtide of work here, all while gleaning what experience and teaching we might provide so that they may realize their own dreams of someday beginning their own farms. While our other interns couldn’t make it, we have to pause and say “thanks” to each of them for all they do. Finally, I have to thank my Mom for holding down the fort at our house, Brian Loyd from Backyard Classrooms for helping us promote the event, and to all those who came out for the WE Farm experience.
We’ll try to offer the chance to come out seasonally, so please keep an eye out for announcements. WE Farm will also release an invitation to sign-up for our Fall 2011 Meat CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Share Program in the coming week. The announcement will be posted on our website and on our Facebook page….stay tuned.
We’re drawing near the day of our big WE Farm Tour! Here are a couple suggestions for making it a wonderful visit for all:
We are pleased to share WE Farm with you and thanks to all who make it.
Cheers,
–Josh Egenolf and Laura Beth Wayne
WE Farm Tour
WE Farm Tour – Saturday, September 24th: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Come out to WE Farm for tour of our pastures and woods. Learn more about our grass-fed beef cattle, our pastured pigs, and our pastured poultry.
As we walk our pastures, we’ll share our grazing and animal husbandry philosophies, and let you meet our animals. We will share the history or our beginning at WE Farm, our approach to farming, and about our future plans. This is an event for kids and grown-ups alike. Please dress appropriately for a hike. Limited vehicle space will be reserved for those who require it.
We’ll wrap up the visit with a private meat sale there at the farm. Visitors may choose from our remaining grass-fed beef and pastured pork inventory. Please pay by cash or check and bring a cooler to transport your delicious WE Farm meats back home.
This has been a great first year for WE Farm and we’d like to share our efforts and offer the chance to say thanks. The event is free, but small donations will be accepted to cover to cost of providing restroom facilities.
Directions from Bloomington:
Drive 7.5 miles west on East 3rd Street/Hwy-48 west to Whitehall. Veer right onto Hwy-43 N. Continue 4.2 miles on Hwy-43 N. Turn left onto Porter Ridge Road (1st road past red double-decker bus). Porter Ridge road bends right immediately. Continue 4.7 miles on Porter Ridge Road to New Hope. Turn right onto Vilas Road just past the New Hope Baptist Church. WE Farm is 1/2 mile down Vilas Road on the right.
Directions from Spencer:
Drive south 0.5 miles on N. Main Street past the courthouse. Cross the White River bridge and continue 0.5 miles further. At the hilltop veer right onto Pottersville Road. Continue 6.3 miles on Pottersville Road (beware the road bends right at Braysville Road). Turn left onto Vilas Road towards the New Hope Baptist Church. Continue 1 mile on Vilas Road. WE Farm is on the left immediately after the bridge crossing the creek.
Directions from Freedom:
Take Freedom Road east across the White River Bridge in Freedom, IN. Continue 1.5 miles, at the hilltop turn right at the stop sign onto Freedom-New Hope Road. Continue 1.5 miles. Just before the New Hope Baptist Church, turn left onto Vilas Road. WE Farm is 1/2 mile down Vilas Road on the right.
Sorry for the long silence. Day-to-day opps at the farm really eat up all our spare time and energy. We’ll seek to make our homepage and blog more dynamic, so please keep checking in with us.
This week, I’m diverting all efforts to the construction of our pig nursery. We expect six of our pregnant sows to birth (or farrow) their piglets in the coming weeks. We are working tirelessly to finish the nursery. These are exciting days at WE Farm and the birthing of our own pigs on our own farm is a prime example of the ways in which we are seeking to further close loops, increase control over the quality and care of the new additions to our animal farmily, and respond to the increasing supporter demand of our meat.
In that vein, we are taking September off from the WE Farm Meat CSA. We will spend September developing new infrastructure for our growing farmily and will begin another 3 month CSA session in October. Stay tuned…..
